Nasri has been largely utilised on the left this season following his £13 million move from Marseille, yet he caused persistent problems in a largely free role ahead of the central midfield platform provided by Denilson and Abou Diaby.

"Nasri did very well in the central role, it suits him better in with Robin," said Wenger. "I wanted Van Persie to play closer to goal and to have Nasri in a more central position and it worked well. I was very pleased with Van Persie."

With Arsenal having conceded just three goals in their past 11 games, Wenger is confident that his team can protect their slender lead inside Rome's Olympic Stadium, though a calf injury to Diaby has further depleted his midfield options.

"The next game will be interesting because they will throw much more forward," he said.

"We have three games before the second leg and at the speed we lose players it can be a danger. We are lacking midfielders."

Luciano Spalletti, the Roma manager, admitted that he had been surprised by Arsenal's performance given their recent Premier League form.

"Arsenal were better than us, it was a fair result," he said. "I thought it would be different from what I have seen of Arsenal's last games, but they played with good pace and they gave us difficulties.

"We did not manage the situation and the first half was controlled by Arsenal. We did not create much, but in the second half we were more in the match.

"I still feel confident to say we have the same chance as Arsenal. Maybe because they won they have a 51 per cent chance and we have a 49 per cent chance.

"But we can take our chances in the second leg and I am sure it will be a completely different match. I don't think many, many of my players had a great performance tonight, but we should be completely different in the second leg.

"The result went well considering the difference between the teams in the first half."